The 2020 U.S. election, which is of worldwide concern, did not wait for the results on election day, but the atmosphere became more anxious.
“To be honest, we have won this election.” In the early morning of November 4th, Eastern Time, the current President Trump was full of spirits and unilaterally declared victory and began the celebration in the White House.
Trump announced his own election in the White House
Although many states have not yet billed the votes, Trump told supporters that “we have won,” and that there was serious fraud in the elections.
He also said that he would appeal to the Supreme Court and demand that all vote counting must stop. Earlier, he called his election a “huge victory” on Twitter and accused his opponent of “trying to steal (the result) of the election.” However, this content was quickly marked by Twitter as “may be misleading.”
As of 3 a.m. Eastern time on November 4, Biden and Trump had won 238 electoral votes and 213 electoral votes, respectively. Trump has the upper hand in the three states of Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin where the billing is delayed.
But only three hours later, with 97% of the votes counted in Wisconsin’s “turning blue”, Biden took the lead with a 0.3% advantage. Wisconsin, which has 10 Electoral College votes, was originally the Democratic Party’s vote warehouse, but Trump won the last election.
The Democrats still maintain a steady state of mind. In his speech in Wilmington, Delaware, Biden emphasized the need to be patient.
He explained to his supporters that because many mailed ballots require time to count, the results may not be available until after the election day, “We believe we are on the road to winning the election.”
Afraid of riots, merchants closed one after another, colleges and universities remind students to avoid danger
Whether Biden can drive Trump out of the White House is still unknown, but outside the White House, hundreds of people gathered here on November 3, hoping that this day will become “Trump’s farewell party.”
Accompanied by music and drums, people waved flags vigorously, chanting: “Kick him (Trump) off the stage!” Others unfolded a huge black banner with the words “Replace Trump.”
Millie Landis, 19, a sophomore in her sophomore year, compared the protest to a farewell to Trump. “I want him to leave.” In the evening, the atmosphere here was relaxed and peaceful, quite different from the potential riots that government officials feared.
On the other hand, Trump supporters are also paying attention to the real-time dynamics of votes.
On the outer wall of the American Film Institute building, the election progress was broadcast live with a projection, and dozens of people stood watching. Kaihinde Ogan wore a bright red shirt with the words “Make America Great Again” printed on his chest. Ogan is black.
He said he was homeless and came to the rally to “support the president” because he promoted prison reform. “It’s very peaceful today, thank God.”
Ms. Ding, who lives in the capital, Washington, DC, told Phoenix Weekly that there was a guest who was staying in the shared room she lived in. His name was Thomas and he was from Maryland. He drove more than an hour to Washington in the morning. “This year’s election is very important to the United States and the world. I want to witness history,” he said.
Thomas said that there have been many concerns in society recently, especially Trump’s remarks, such as the possibility of not accepting the election results or encouraging post-election violence.
These words and deeds have caused many people to accumulate stress and anger, and these negative emotions are likely to evolve into uncontrollable situations. He mentioned that in the past weekend
Trump supporters drove to the Democratic town of New York City to demonstrate in the form of blocking traffic, and opponents of Trump also clashed with the police in Manhattan, resulting in 11 people being arrested. catch.
Like Thomas, many Americans are worried about the post-election situation. In Washington, D.C.
businesses in the main neighborhoods sealed their windows and glass doors with wooden boards, fearing that the demonstrations would escalate into violent conflict and cause damage to their property.
From Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the White House to Georgetown and U Street shopping districts two or three kilometers away, from luxury stores, high-end hotels, clothing stores to supermarkets, pharmacies and even fast food restaurants, they have “armed” their windows.
Zhang Yunhan, the Chinese owner of a beverage store in DuPont Circle, also considered installing protective wood panels on his store.
He expects that if Trump wins, there will definitely be a big parade on the night of the election; and if Biden wins, there will definitely be Trump supporters from outside the state to march here on the weekend after the election.
However, it costs at least a few thousand dollars to install the protective plank, and it is not perfect protection. It may be torn off by the demonstrators. He is weighing whether to make this big investment.
Colleges and universities in Washington also remind students to be safe on election day and prepare for potential conflicts.
The George Washington University, which is only a few hundred meters away from the White House, sent an email to the students a few weeks before the election, reminding them to prepare food and medicine for a week in advance as they are “preparing to face a typhoon,” for the possibility of emergence after the election. Prepare for the riots.
The parade is already brewing on the “Black Lives Matter” square in front of the White House (the 16th block in the past, which was renamed in June this year after the BLM movement took place).
When a reporter from “Phoenix Weekly” visited at noon on the 3rd, there were not too many demonstrators, but some people waved their anti-Trump flags, shouting how the current president is incompetent.
The demonstrations in the past few months have left behind various slogans and posters, plastered with metal fences erected to protect the White House. Music was playing in two corners of the square, dancing and singing on one side, rap on the other.
The square is facing the direction of the White House. At least 20 or 30 news media have set up cameras or mobile phones for live broadcasts. The host stands in front of the camera and introduces the current situation.
While following up the balloting for the election, major US media are also closely watching and reporting on the situation in front of the White House.
According to the “Washington Post” report, on November 3rd, dozens of police officers in Washington, DC were on standby at any time, and the National Park Service erected a high fence around the White House to deal with possible violence.
Washington officials also opened an emergency operations center, adding police and firefighters to deal with any problems. Both agencies stated that they have arranged personnel to be on standby at any time.
Earlier, US media reported that some Republican supporters would carry weapons. Among them, a man was arrested for carrying a weapon at a polling station in Charlotte, North Carolina, and a voter in Los Angeles who was waving the Trump flag was also reported. Firearms in hand.
Although there were a lot of disturbing phenomena during the general election, the voting and counting of votes went smoothly than expected.
Kristen Clarke, Chairman and Executive Director of the National Civil Rights Lawyers Committee, reminded, “Individual incidents of intimidating voters have always been a problem that we cannot ignore.
These attacks are not widespread and systematic, but they are more numerous than We have seen much more in the recent elections, reflecting the dark times our country is currently in.”
Voter numbers fell on election day and mobilization was still going on at the last minute
In addition to about 100 million voters who have voted in advance, there are still people who choose to go to the scene to vote on election day.
In the early morning of November 3, a polling station in Pennsylvania had just started, and the waiting crowd had been winding hundreds of meters along the road.
The area where this polling station is located favors the Democratic Party, and voters mostly plan to choose Biden and vote Trump down.
In Florida, which is vital to the election, 33-year-old Cuban voter Viv and her husband Joel came to a polling place in Lijin Park in Miami early in the morning and voted for Trump.
Joel said that his parents fled from Cuba to the United States. When he was growing up, he was told that the Democratic Party preferred Cuban ideology, so Joel could not identify with the Democratic Party.
He told the Los Angeles Times, “You can see that Biden is raising taxes as much as possible, and I think Trump is the best candidate right now.”
In Orlando, Florida, less than 7 o’clock, more than 10 voters appeared at a polling station in Paramore, a historic black community here. Voters said that they came to vote in person because they were worried that their votes would not be counted if they voted in other ways.
People wait in line to vote at the first Christian church in West Palm Beach, Florida
Darryl Shephard, 51, said, “I don’t believe in voting by mail, because I see news about post office delivery delays.” In the end, Shephard voted for Biden.
He said he was not against Trump, but In order to support the political legacy of former President Obama, “Although Biden and Obama have different ideas, they have worked together, so I want to show my support.”
Trump’s wife Melania also came to Florida to vote in person. She wore a white dress with a stirrup print, her hair pulled up, and a pair of sunglasses to enter the polling station.
According to the US “Daily Express” report, the total value of this suit exceeds $20,000. However, when she entered the Morton and Barbara Mandel Entertainment Center to vote, she was the only person who did not wear a mask.
Voters will also devote their enthusiasm to social media. Topics such as “Election2020”, “Election day”, and “Trump” have been occupying the top spots on Twitter’s hot search list. After the vote counting began, the names of several key states also appeared frequently.
Victoria Wilson, a young woman from Georgia who is a supporter of Biden, tweeted after voting: “For my friend who had a work visa and paid more taxes than Trump; for my death of COVID-19 this summer
For all the women in my life; for the RBG (former Justice Ginsburg) who fought for us to the last day of life; for my husband, because his life is also life.” In the photo, Wilson is wearing Mask, holding a sticker with the words “I secured my vote” on it.
Yan Xiaozhe, executive chairman of the Iowa Chinese Association, has just finished voting. He told the “Phoenix Weekly” that his home is located in the suburbs of Des Main, the capital of Iowa.
The polling station here is far from the city and there are fewer people, so there is no need to line up at the polls. “There are about 20 people voting at the same time, and they can vote in 20 minutes.”
Yan Xiaozhe said that several young people were very excited at the scene. They basically chose the Democratic Party. There was also a Trump supporter in his 40s who was wearing clothes with the Trump logo. “If there is no epidemic, many people will usually party all night on election day, and of course there will be a few happy families and some worry.”
According to feedback from voters, a total of about 2500 people in the polling places in the suburbs of De Maine went to vote on the election day, and the evening ushered in a climax.
The number of people eligible to vote in this area was about 12,000, and many people chose to vote in advance. There were more than 20 staff members in the polling station, and they sent the ballots to the unified ballot counting agency after the voting deadline at 9 pm.
Yan Xiaozhe’s second son is in his sophomore year at Iowa State University. Many of his classmates chose Trump, and the state was eventually taken by Trump.
He was supposed to vote at school, but because he supported Biden and didn’t want to be isolated, he had to drive home for an hour to vote. “These students chose Trump because of economic reasons.
Although Biden is far ahead in many polls including security, immigration, and public health, Trump has one thing that far surpasses Biden, which is the economy.”
Compared with the above-mentioned states, the streets of the capital on election day were slightly deserted, with few vehicles passing by. You can see billboards for Biden and Harris on the side of the road, as well as posters with the word “vote.”
Near the White House, a high school was converted into a polling station, but few people voted. More than a dozen citizens supporting the election of city councillors held signs outside the polling station to introduce the names of the candidates they supported to passing voters.
A candidate said that considering the new crown epidemic, most voters have already voted offline or by mail in advance, and the number of people who actually voted on election day was much smaller than in previous years.
In Washington, DC, there is no suspense in the presidential election-since 1972, the Democratic candidate has been supported by a majority each time. In the 2016 presidential election, 91% of Washington voters voted for Hillary Clinton.
However, this general election is about the election of local councillors and other local positions, so there are still many electors taking to the streets to encourage voters to vote.
Many companies also choose to give employees a holiday on this day to encourage them to vote or go to the streets to encourage other voters to vote.
The long queues on this day are the major supermarkets and restaurants in Washington. The drinks and snack areas of supermarkets are starting to be out of stock, and the pizzeria is in short supply. In residential areas, many people come and go with food bought from the supermarket, and everyone is ready to watch the election that night at home.
Ms. Ding and her friends watched the balloting process at home on the same day.
The pre-election polls showed that Biden was leading in many states, even some Republican states, but when the TV announced that Trump had won one state after another, together Friends watching the general election became more and more nervous.
“We still have to be positive, after all, we have to wait this time. At this time in 2016, we had long given up (see the final result) to wash and sleep.” A friend who supported Biden sighed.
The election result is postponed as a foregone conclusion, Trump plans to appeal to court
On this day, Biden and Trump also leave time to voters. In the early morning of November 3, Biden and his family went to church. Before leaving the church, he went to the tomb of his deceased eldest son Bo Biden to worship.
Biden spent most of this day in Pennsylvania. He first returned to his hometown of Scranton, and then set off for Philadelphia. Biden told supporters in Philadelphia, “Philadelphia will determine the whereabouts of Pennsylvania.”
That night, Biden returned to his home in Wilmington, Delaware, to watch the vote count. In the face of the stalemate election, at about 0:30 on the 4th, Biden delivered a speech to appease supporters. “We know this will last a long time,” he emphasized to supporters, and must wait until every vote has been counted before deciding the winner of this election.
Trump’s schedule is still full. After ending the Cyclone campaign on November 2, he returned to the White House in the early hours of the 3rd and visited the Republican National Committee and campaign office in Arlington, Virginia that morning. “I haven’t thought about winning or losing the election,” he said locally. “For me, losing is not an easy thing to accept.”
The progress of vote counting in the general election has not only affected the attention of the American people. On the morning of November 4th, Beijing time, the U.S. Embassy in China held an election day party, inviting NGOs, employees of American companies, and media reporters to observe the vote counting process.
Outside the venue were photographs of past U.S. presidents, the flags of 50 states were hung in the venue, and grids for simulated voting were set up. A staff member of the embassy pointed to Grid and said, “In my impression, when I was young, I came to vote in this small grid with my parents.”
An enlarged ballot was pasted next to the grid. The staff explained that because the elections in the United States are independently held by local governments, officials and issues of federal, state, and county governments are all concentrated on one ballot. The ballots of electoral districts have different contents, and the language and format of ballots also vary from place to place.
A woman from Virginia told Phoenix Weekly: “In 2016, I watched a live TV broadcast from my home in the United States. My vote has been sent back this year, and the result is hard to tell until the last minute.”
Another Trump fan wearing a T-shirt with the words “Make America Great” bluntly said: “This election is a life and death battle for the United States. It may determine the direction of American politics in the next 50 years. If Trump wins, I will Celebrate this great victory with friends tonight.”
As of press time, Trump basically won Texas, Ohio, Iowa and Florida among the swing states. Another swing state, North Carolina, also completed 95% of the vote count, and Trump maintained a small lead. The elections for the House of Representatives and the Senate are also very detrimental to the Democratic Party.
Judging from the current situation, the results of the general election may not be known in the next few days. The focus of the battle between the next two candidates will turn to the mailed votes of Michigan (16), Wisconsin (10) and Pennsylvania (20).
Pennsylvania, which has 20 electoral votes, has become even more important. According to previous polls on the FiveThirtyEight website, Biden’s lead in the three states is 7.9%, 8.4% and 4.7% respectively. Whether the final result deviates from the poll will also attract attention.
Some analysis also pointed out that the above three states cannot count all the “absent votes” and “mailed votes”, but the results of the rapid vote counting districts in these states will be announced soon, and local election officials can use these “partial results” to compare 2016 Forecast the state’s overall election results for the year.
Trump has said that if the voting result is close, he will initiate legal proceedings. Once a lawsuit is filed, it means that the final decision will fall into the hands of the US Supreme Court, and it will take several weeks.
However, according to the U.S. Constitution’s provisions on the end of the term of the current president, any election disputes in Congress must be resolved before January 20 of the following year.
If Congress has not been able to declare who is the winner by then, the President of the House of Representatives will act on his behalf. president. The current Dean of the House of Representatives is a Democrat Pelosi from California.
Concerned about the possible chaos after the election, at the general election observation site of the US Embassy in China, two US political strategy experts who participated in the remote connection believed that no matter who becomes the president, power will be transferred peacefully.
Penny Lee, an expert on political communication and government relations strategy, said in response to a question from a reporter from Phoenix Weekly that such a legal dispute was faced during the 2000 general election, but no matter which party has an objection to the election, it has the right to raise it in an orderly manner.
Fu Deen, the deputy head of the US Mission to China, also stated repeatedly that despite some violence or disorderly conduct during the election, the United States has successfully held every election for more than 300 years. He is confident that the election will be completed this year.
The record-breaking election was also regarded as a gamble by many people. According to the British “Sun” report, a British gambler placed a $5 million bet for Trump to win the election, the biggest political bet in history.
According to sources, the former banker bet at 37-20 odds through a private gaming company registered on the Caribbean island of Curaçao, which means that if Trump wins he can get a prize of $15 million.
It is reported that this mysterious gambler was confident after consulting “Trump camp insiders”.
OddsChecker points out that more and more people believe that Trump can be re-elected. Within 4 hours of election day, 71% of people bought Trump to win.
